by Marie Mason
“So I guess it’s peanut butter sandwiches, again, huh?” He gave her a twisted little smile. With quick efficient motions, he made her a half of sandwich. She realized he was rationing the food and a flare of anxiety washed over her. How long did he expect them to be stranded here?
“Oh, wait, I did find something else.” He jumped up and opened a cabinet door. “Look what we have for dessert.”
With a flourish, he presented her with a plastic cup of mandarin oranges. For some reason, the gesture made her eyes fill with tears. “Thank you,” she mumbled.
“Hey, hey, now. What’s wrong?” He squatted beside her chair and lifted her chin up with one of his fingers.
“Nothing.” She looked at him, but his face was blurry, thanks to her tears. Before she knew it, he was brushing away the tear that had fallen from the corner of her eye. She saw the worry and concern in his eyes. They had darkened, like they did when he was angry. Or concerned, she realized suddenly. He’d had that look sometimes when he spoke of his younger brother. The one in the military.
“Sara.”
From the tone of his voice, she could tell he didn’t believe her when she said nothing was wrong.
“I, just.” She sighed. “I guess I’m scared because I don’t know how long we’ll be here. And you giving me the oranges was just so sweet.”
“Do you trust me, Sara?”
“Yes.” There was no hesitation in her answer.
He placed his hands on top of her shoulders, rubbing them gently. “Then trust me to take care of you, okay?”
“Okay.”
“Good.” He got up and sat back down in the chair beside her. For some odd reason she wanted to ask him to move his closer to hers. She missed the heat of his big body, even though the room was the same temperature it had been earlier.
He took her cup of oranges and opened it for her, careful not to spill the juice. Handing her the sandwich and a plastic spoon, he ordered her to eat.
After she’d taken a couple of bites, she felt herself calming down. There was no reason to be afraid. The city would dig itself out in the morning. All she had to do was make it through the night. Heat danced along her limbs.
In the arms of her boss.
Time to for a distraction.
“You did that very well.”
“What, calm a hysterical female?”
“No.” She made a face at him and he laughed. “And that wasn’t nice to point out my lack of control.” She glanced at him shyly. “No, how did you get so good at opening the oranges.”
“Two nieces and a nephew. They love the things, but usually spill the juice all over themselves. It’s all in the flick of the wrist not to spill it.” He winked and finished his off, drinking the juice from the little plastic cup as elegantly as he would sip soup from a silver spoon.
She felt foolish for her earlier thoughts. He wasn’t showing any interest in her. That was twice he’d compared her to one of his nieces. Definitely no interest there. She sighed again. She reached for the soda can at the same time he did. Their fingers brushed against each other.
He captured her fluttering hand and linked his fingers through hers, brushing her thumb with his.
The casual touch had the same effect as throwing a match onto dry tinder. Sara felt a rush of scorching heat race through her body and knew she had turned bright red. She could feel her face burning.
“What are you doing?” She knew the protest should have been accompanied by a pulling away of her hand. Instead, her hand stayed right where it was—in his warm grasp.
“What do you think? I’m holding your hand, Sara. I’m touching you.” The word touching was said in such a deep, dark tone that Sara felt herself grow wet between her legs.
“Doesn’t it feel good? It feels good to me.” Another slow, sensuous rub of his thumb over her knuckle and along her finger.
There was no way Sara could answer that question. Heck, she didn’t think he wanted an answer. He appeared to be trying to seduce her. Wasn’t he? Sara had zilch experience when it came to the opposite sex. Was he simply flirting with her to pass the time? A diversion while they were stranded?
Yeah, that had to be it. Because why would a wolf as good looking as Jarod McCall flirt with his mousy assistant.
Boredom.
She pulled at her hand and for a moment she didn’t think he was going to let her go and she panicked. Well, not exactly panicked, more like everything sat up inside her and took notice. What Jarod wanted, he usually got. Did he want his mousy assistant?
He gave her another deep look, then let go and leaned back. Her hand was trembling too much to pick up the soda so she placed it in her lap and picked her sandwich back up with the other. She took a small bite of the crust, trying to choke it down.
Jarod watched hungrily as Sara’s lips parted. Each bite she took made his cock swell against the zipper of his pants. Damn it, the act of eating was not supposed to be this seductive.
A wave of longing washed through him and he couldn’t resist the pull of his wolf a moment longer. He scraped his chair closer and bent into her, his mouth covering hers, kissing her like a dying man deprived of water. His hand curved around the side of her neck, his fingers curling into her hair as he raised her head the fraction of an inch that was needed to deepen the kiss into something more than a kiss. There was a burst of heat at the immediate possession his kiss, a sizzling unleashing explosion. He felt her soften, heard her gasp, and then she was pushing him away.
“No, what are you doing?”
“I thought I was kissing you.” He pulled back, but not far. Unable to resist, he leaned back in and kissed her on the mouth again, heartened when she didn’t pull away.
“I want you, Sara. I’ve wanted you for months.” He gave a twisted smile. “I’ve wanted you since I saw you sitting inside the human resource office.”
“No, no, you haven’t.” She shook her head in adamant denial and rose to her feet, looking around for the exit like an animal being hunted. Oh, God, that was exactly what she was—a woman being stalked by a wolf.
Opportunity, she kept reminding himself. Her boss was just taking advantage of the opportunity. They were stuck together for heavens knew how long and he was a red-blooded male—no wolf—who probably saw any woman, even someone like her, as fair game to pass the time.
“Yep. I most definitely have.” Something in his voice made her head snap up. A grin so sexy she wondered why she was still standing lit up his face.
But she was still determined to say no, should he make an advance again. Unable to stop herself, she licked her lips, trying to find any trace of his taste that might be lingering.
Rising his feet, he placed his hand on the middle of her back and guided her out of the break room. As they passed the restroom, Sara stopped. “I, umm, I need to…” Damn it, why was she blushing. Everyone had to use the bathroom for heavens sake.
Some deity must have been looking down and took pity on her for he simply smiled and said, “I’ll see you in the office.”
Once in the bathroom, Sara took care of business then washed her hands. As she did, she looked in the mirror. She saw a twenty-something woman with tousled hair and a bright light in her brown eyes. Excitement? Well, who wouldn’t be excited to spend the evening—and night—with a man as handsome as Jarod McCall? Not only was he handsome, he was charming, polite. Without any effort, he could make a woman feel like a lady, deserving of any attention he might throw her way.
And make her feel so damn hot she thought she might explode with spontaneous combustion.
Again, her common sense rose, pushing down the bad girl inside her that was starting to come through. He was just playing. He was a player. Hadn’t she seen a stream of blondes and brunettes and redheads come in and out of his life since she’d started working for him? Yes. A thousand times yet. Nothing serious. He was never serious about anything. A player. A playboy. A rake. A rouge. A wolf.
A horny, lusty wolf who liked sex.
She had the impulse to bang her head against the nearest vertical surface once again. All that little pep talk had done was flood her mind with erotic imagines of just how lusty her boss could be. With her.
Did he want her?
Smoothing back her hair from her face, she tried to see what he might see. Yes, she was fairly pretty. She hated to admit she’d been flattered when he’d insisted she leave her hair down. She loved her hair, but wasn’t openly vain about it. It was thick and shiny and a color she’d didn’t think could be duplicated from a bottle. She kept it pulled back and away from her hair because…well, because it did make her feel sexy when it swung free and loose around her shoulders.
Loose. A loose woman. Was she in danger of becoming a loose woman? The taste and feel of Jarod’s lips on hers told her she was damn close. She was a small-town girl raised by hard-working parents. Her reality was meeting and falling in love with a man and settling down and having babies.
It was not having wild, hot sex with a gorgeous wolf shifter.
Or was it?
Cupping her breasts in her hands, she held them higher. No bra she’d ever found could really make them perky looking without pushing them so far into her face she had a difficult time breathing. She was big boobed—didn’t men like that? Of course, the big came into play with other parts of her body. Big belly, wide hips, wide thighs. She remembered one boy in high school calling her thunder thighs during gym glass. That was the day she’d stopped wearing shorts.
She sighed heavily. What was she doing? Trying to convince herself that Jarod McCall might actually find her attractive? Cause she knew, just knew, her shifter boss was going to make another pass at her. That light in his eyes when he’d taken her hand, leaned over and kissed her, was not going away.
Her choices were simple, give herself over to the night, take advantage of the situation—and find a new job when the snow thawed. Okay, that was only one choice. She really only had one choice.
Wiping her shaky hands with a paper towel, she walked out of the bathroom still not knowing what to do.
Jarod waiting anxiously for Sara to come back from the bathroom. He knew what she was doing. Trying to figure out a way to run away. While his curvy secretary was hell on wheels when it came to business matters, she had absolutely no self-confidence. Boy was he going to enjoy teaching her just how sexy she was.
Behind him, his office phone rang. It startled him to realize he hadn’t checked his cell phone in hours. He’d been too preoccupied with Sara. Another ring and he glanced over to see who was calling at this hour. Not that it was unusual, he did many deals in what others might consider the dead of night.
Smiling, he picked up the phone recognizing the number. This wasn’t a business deal.
“Hello,” he grunted into the receiver.
“Jarod?” Logan’s voice came over the line. He was the middle McCall son and just a little taller and leaner than Jarod, but still a big man. His hair was a shade or two lighter than Jarod’s almost black hair. His features were stamped with the same good looks as most of the males in the family.
“Yeah. Where are you, bro?”
Logan worked for the family business as chief financial officer but hadn’t been in the Chicago office in days. He’d always had a head for numbers and an uncanny sixth sense about which business McCall Holdings should acquire next. Then Jarod worked his magic, trimming fat and waste, and they had another successful, thriving business to add to their portfolio. One of these days, Jarod was going to tell his brother how much easier he made Jarod’s job. Not now. The man had an ego the size of Texas thanks to all the women he had at his beck and call.
“Somewhere besides ass deep in snow in the middle of Chicago, that’s where. Why the hell didn’t you leave?” Logan’s voice was sharp with concern.
“I didn’t listen to the forecast.” Jarod hated to admit that.
“Mmm, not surprising,” his brother murmured. “Did that pretty little secretary of yours make it home all right?”
Silence greeted Logan’s question.
“Jarod, you did call to check on her didn’t you?” Logan mentally shook his head. Sometimes his older brother was oblivious to the personal aspects of the people around him. It made him a hell of an alpha and CEO, being able to shut off his emotions, but a terrible brother, son, lover, and apparently potential mate. Logan had known for months that Jarod’s curvy assistant was his brother’s mate. If he wasn’t so sure his big brother was well on his way to fucking everything up, he might laugh at the situation. As it was, he knew Jarod came on too strong sometimes. And that definitely wasn’t the approach he needed to take with Sara. Hell, you could smell her innocence a mile away.
“Well, no. There was no need.” Jarod’s voice had a strained edge to it that Logan found disconcerting. What the hell had his brother done?
“Jarod, if you’ve not called her and checked on her, I want you to give me her number right now,” he demanded.
“No way in hell.” This time the growl of the wolf was unmistaken.
It dawned on Logan why his brother sounded so…off. “She’s there with you, isn’t she? She’s stranded with the wolf.”
He laughed when Jarod didn’t answer. He was sure the desire, the need to mate, was clawing at his brother. He realized his older brother was fighting the pull with everything he had. Because if he wasn’t, he wouldn’t have ever answered his call, he’d have still been fucking his new mate.
He heard the click as Jarod disconnect the call, still chuckling to himself. Jarod might be oldest, but Logan was by far the most family oriented. Jarod had been the last of his siblings he’d called and checked on. His sister and her husband and their children were safe in their home in Montana. Hunter’s plane had safely landed almost two hours ago. Logan didn’t worry about him finding a place to hunker down in the snow. Knowing Hunter, he’d had a military escort waiting for him at the airport so he wouldn’t be delayed getting to his next assignment.
The youngest McCall sibling had decided he wanted nothing to do with the family business at an early age. It hadn’t really surprised anyone and their father had taken the news relatively good. Considering he’d tried to withhold Hunter’s trust fund until he worked at the company for at least a year.
Hunter had said to hell with his inheritance and joined the Marine Corps a year earlier than planned, dropping out of college and forging his automatic commission. It hadn’t taken his baby brother long to achieve the rank of captain, then major. An aggressive wolf on the battlefield was promoted pretty damn fast.
And then there was Jarod. The stubborn-assed brother who’d lucked and found his mate over six months ago. And had resisted her. How the hell he had for so long Logan didn’t know.
Oh, don’t you? his wolf asked.
Before he could berate the animal, a soft feminine voice sounded behind him, prompting him to turn around.
“Could I use that, please?”
It was a good thing all his siblings were safe and accounted for, Logan thought as he handed over his cell phone. Because he had a situation all his own to take care of.
Jarod slammed down the phone only a few seconds before Sara walked back into his office. He had to clear his throat before he could speak. His animal instincts had almost taken over when he’d thought Logan was a threat to his mate.
Damn. Fuck. Shit.
He had a freaking mate.
We have a freaking mate, his wolf repeated smugly.
He ran his fingers through his hair standing the black locks on end. Logan was a motherfucker for arousing his claiming instinct.
Sara walked back into Jarod’s office, but stopped when she saw him. He looked—disheveled, which into itself was a surprise. Nothing ever threw the great Jarod McCall for a loop.
He seemed calm enough, however, when he smiled at her and rose from the chair behind his desk. “Enough work for the day. Let’s watch the weather and see if there’s any update.”
For the nex
t half hour, Jarod switched between The Weather Channel, the local station, and CNN. By end, he was pacing along the window, stopping every now and then to look out. Darkness had fallen with a vengeance. Sara couldn’t make out anything beyond the tinted glass. No doubt, he could with his enhanced eyesight. Only when she looked down toward the streets and focused on the glow of the streetlights could she tell it was still snowing. Heavily.
The moment had arrived that Sara had been dreading all afternoon and evening. The sleeping arrangements. Her office sported a small, two-cushion couch. She’d be comfortable, but she wasn’t sure she’d be able to sleep, all alone in the office. She’d worked several times in the building after hours and the place made some freaking scary sounds. The snow outside did seem to offer a comforting blanket of sorts, or at least in her mind. It was probably due to fact there was no nighttime traffic noise. The mayor had issued a citywide curfew. It still amazed her that Mother Nature could bring such a large metropolis to its knees.
“I am, was wondering what, the, umm.” She took a deep breath and just blurted it out. “Where will you be sleeping?” That got his attention and he stopped pacing.
“With you.”
“What!”
“If I’m not mistaken the building’s heating units are set to power down in the evenings. Why heat a building when no one is in it? He gave an impish grin. “So, that means we’re going to have to conserve body heat.”
“Really?” Sara’s brow rose, mimicking his trademark look disdain.
Jarod had to laugh at her tone and expression. His hand rose and he made a motion over his heart. “I promise it’s not a ploy to get you in my clutches, Ms. Allen.”
“I didn’t think it was.” She did still have some backbone when it came to warding off his charm.
He leaned closer, invading her space. “Cause, I’m not going to need an excuse to get you in my arms tonight.”